Podcast

The right mix of closed-end funds creates a quasi-bond, delivers steady ionJohn Cole Scott, chief investment officer at Closed-End Fund Advisors -- the founder/executive chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance -- discusses what is involved...

Roxanna Islam, associate director of research for Alerian and S-Network Global Indexes, discusses why her firm's indexes of closed-end funds show particularly high yields right now, but suggests that investors keep an eye on distribution coverage ratios...

Mike Taggart, founder of Taggart Fund Intelligence, joins the NAVigator to discuss current trends in closed-end fund mergers, and while he says that most deals benefit shareholders and management alike, he raises concerns about those times...

Portfolio manager Brian Kessens of Tortoise Ecofin, who oversees the closed-end Tortoise Pipeline and Energy, and the Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, says he expects double-digit total returns from midstream and other energy companies based on current high yields...

Nicholas Marshi, editor of the BDC Reporter says that business development companies are heading into 'a bit of a golden age' over the few years as a result of low interest rates continuing to help with the cost of capital, improved credit conditions generally...

Jerry Paul, senior vice president of fixed income for ICON Advisors -- manager of the ICON Flexible Bond Fund -- says that fears of rising interest rates and inflation haven't made reasonable yields on closed-end investments dry up...

Patrick Galley, chief investment officer at RiverNorth Capital Management -- which runs four municipal bond closed-end funds that invest in both individual bonds and in other muni closed-end funds -- says that as tax-equivalent yields in the muni space have become relatively attractive...

Dan Omstead, chief executive officer at Tekla Capital Management -- which sponsors four health-care oriented closed-end funds -- says that the pandemic proved the promise of health care and biotech companies as it helped vaccine maker Moderna grow from a small form to one of the largest health-care companies in the world...

Long-time activist investor Phillip Goldstein, co-founder and portfolio manager at Bulldog Investors, says that narrowing discounts and regulatory and legal changes have made it tougher for shareholders to find appropriate targets where they can mount a viable campaign against management...

It's the 100th NAVigator podcast, and John Cole Scott, chief investment officer at Closed-End Fund Advisors and the executive chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance returns to discuss narrowing discounts and why investors shouldn't wait for them to widen before investing...